“Parable of the Sower” is the 2025 Common Read
Mount Holyoke College has selected “Parable of the Sower” for its Common Read for the 2025–2026 academic year. The New York Times named the novel a Notable Book of the Year for its prescient treatment of racial justice, climate collapse and fascism.
Mount Holyoke College’s 2025 Common Read is “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler. This seminal dystopian science fiction novel, published in 1993, tells the story of a visionary teenage girl who flees her Los Angeles–area enclave with a group of followers amid social and environmental collapse. The New York Times named it a Notable Book of the Year in 1994 for its prescient treatment of racial justice, climate collapse and fascism.
The Common Read Committee selects publications each year that will lead to thoughtful discussions on campus. “Parable of the Sower,” with its eerie foreshadowing of the current political and cultural landscape, is ably suited for such a task.
“I was worried about reading this book at first, given the current state of our nation, but I was immediately drawn in and loved it,” said committee member Kim Parent, associate dean of studies and academic dean for new students. “There is something about the main character that just gives us hope!”
“Parable of the Sower” is set in the early 2020s, when California is full of dangers, from pervasive water shortages to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions.
Precocious and clear-eyed, Olamina must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith and a startling vision of human destiny.
“As one of the most notable pieces of climate fiction, it continues to stand the test of time as we move through various stages of the climate crisis,” said Director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment Olivia Aguilar.
In 1995, Butler was the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. The MacArthur Foundation said of her work, “Her imaginative stories are transcendent fables, which have as much to do with the future as with the present and the past.”
“I am a huge fan of Octavia Butler, so I am personally so excited about this selection!” said Marcella Runell, vice president of student life and dean of students. “I also think we have some great opportunities to bring to campus scholarly experts on her work, such as alum Susana Morris ’02.”
The Common Read program, which began in 2000 as part of the College’s annual Orientation, is available to prospective and current students, faculty, staff and alums.
Discussions about the Common Read selection provide new students with their first intellectual dialogue based on a shared text. These discussions take place throughout the academic year. They build community and provide students with a foundation to build upon as they learn to express themselves on complex issues.
